Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 18: No One Left Behind

'''Fucking hell!'' Marshall cursed. He had removed the hatch cover on the nacelle, and was gazing into the interior of the Rover's port engine.

''Is it bad?'' Dixon asked. He was standing a few metres away from the engineer, with his assault rifle drawn. He cautiously watched his surroundings, glancing around the clearing. 

 ''I have never seen an engine in such a bad shape!'' Marshall exclaimed.

''Just tell us the problem.'' Murphy said, who was sitting on the rocks, leaning forward.

''Where do I begin?'' Marshall muttered, ''You've got some melted wires and coolant injector.'' he said. ''But that's nothing compared to these two cracked coils. You should consider yourself very lucky.''

''Why?'' Dixon asked.

''Why?!'' Marshall blurted. ''Do you even realize what that means? It's a damn miracle the engine burned out, and didn't explode. It would have ripped the wing right off!''

''How did it happen?'' Murphy asked.

''Overheating is the most likely cause,'' Marshall said, ''but normal coils are supposed to handle high temperatures. Where the hell did you get these pieces of crap?''

''From some scrapper on Easter.'' Dixon said.

The engineer gazed at him in disbelief. ''You used coils you bought from a scrap yard?''

''Hell,'' Dixon shrugged, ''they were cheap.''

Marshall sighed. ''Jesus Christ.'' he muttered, ''you'll find out they aren't as cheap as you think, once they start cracking. It's no wonder the damn engine burned out.'' The engineer shook his head, and chuckled. ''You were ripped off, no doubt. How dumb can you be, buying coils from a scrapper?''

''Just shut it.'' Dixon grunted. ''Can you fix it?''

''Didn't you hear what I just said?! There are cracks in the coils!'' Marshall shouted, ''There is no way in hell that this bird is going to fly again.''

''This asshole is wasting our time!'' Dixon snarled. ''I say we kill him!''

Marshall took a step back, as Dixon raised his assault rifle. Murphy leaped from the rocks, and blocked his colleague. 

''You don't want to do that.'' he warned, his hand resting on the grip of his pistol.

''What does it matter?!'' Dixon snapped. ''He just said he won't repair the engine, what use is he to us?!''

''You better back off!'' Murphy warned him. ''You know what Jackson said. No one is killing anyone!''

Dixon grunted, and lowered his assault rifle. Murphy let out a sigh, and turned to Marshall.

''Just tell me,'' he said, ''can you repair the damage?''

''Well,'' Marshall stuttered, visibly shaken, ''I won't lie. It is going to be hard, and it is going to take me a lot of time. But it is possible.''

''What needs to be done?'' Murphy asked.

''Those cracked coils need to be replaced,'' Marshall said, ''as well as those melted wires and coolant injector, of course.''

''Fair enough.'' Murphy agreed. ''We have some spare parts stored in the hold.''

''Did those parts come from the same scrap yard as the coils?'' Marshall asked cautiously.

Murphy nodded.

''That's great.'' Marshall sighed. ''I guess it's better than nothing,'' he said, ''it wont get you across the zone, but it's sufficient to get you off the planet.''